Asking Space Dad for Advice
by Scarletwriter28
Summary: They're on the journey to Earth, but obviously they make a few stops along the way. While staying on a planet, Shiro casually mentions his partner back on Earth. What Lance can't understand is how no one else is freaking out about this! Read all about how Lance tries to ask everyone's favorite Space Dad for help on dealing with his newfound feelings for Keith.
1. Shiro's Gay and Only Lance is Shocked

Going back to Earth was exciting, scary, and about a million other emotions that the team couldn't really identify. For Allura, Coran, and Romelle, it would be their first time visiting the planet. For Krolia, it would be a bittersweet return to a planet that she had lived on and had found love. For everyone else on the team, it would be going back home. Lance had missed his family for so long that the trip back felt surreal. It was a long journey back, so they often stopped on planets. It was like each planet they stopped on was a rest stop. The inhabitants would always provide them with food and shelter as a way of showing their gratitude for all that Voltron has done for the universe.

The planet they were currently on was no different. Their ruler had invited them into his palace and treated the heroes with many of the planet's delicacies. They were seated at a long table filled with other important beings. It seemed that everyone had a question about Earth.

"Is everyone on Earth thankful for all of your valiant efforts and success in saving us all?" Jydi, the ruler's daughter, asks.

She looks at Keith as if expecting him to respond, even though the question could have been for any one of the paladins. Keith shifts a bit, looking uncomfortable. Lance looks between the two decides to answer instead.

"They don't really know about everything we've done. But I bet when they do, they'll hold a parade in our honor. Maybe even make a movie!" Lance smiles, thinking of all the ways the people back on Earth would react and thank them. He forgot about how he didn't like the way Jydi was looking at Keith.

Jydi smiles at Keith, ignoring Lance's answer. "So, who are you most excited to see once you get back to Earth?"

Keith clears his throat, and Lance began to wonder if there really was anyone who Keith had waiting for back on Earth. He doesn't really think so since before they left, Keith had been in a shack alone in the middle of nowhere. Keith stays silent, leaving a bit of awkward silence. It seems that Lance had to save Keith from answering another question.

Lance opens his mouth, but Shiro beats him to it. "I'm most excited to see Adam."

"Is that your brother, Shiro?" Coran asks curiously. The team doesn't really know much about Shiro's background, so it makes sense that he was curious. If Lance is being honest, so is he.

Shiro chuckles. "No, he's my partner."

The way Shiro says partner surprises Lance. From his tone, anyone can tell that Adam is his romantic partner. There was no mistaking that. But Lance had never thought that Shiro was gay. He gave off no signs or anything. Then again, Lance didn't expect to be attracted to guys himself, so it's not like he can say he was an expert on catching on to these things.

Speaking of guys he was attracted to, Keith finally speaks. "I've missed Adam too. I never talked to him after what happened."

Shiro's face darkens a bit. It seems like he did not leave for the Kerberos mission on good terms with Adam. "Hopefully, everything will be alright after we get back."

Lance looks around, only to find that the other paladins are acting completely casually as if their leader did not just come out to them. Did they all know? Is this like when Pidge told everyone she was a girl and he was the only one who was left completely shocked? Lance already knew he was kind of oblivious, but come on.

Other guests begin asking questions, but Lance doesn't hear any of them. The only thing he can process at the moment is that their leader, his hero, is gay. For weeks, he's been questioning why he suddenly had the urge to kiss Keith when he came back. He has been wondering why he found him super attractive and had this weird need to be close to him. His feelings for Allura already feel like they were forever ago. The only person who remains on his mind all the time now is Keith. But Keith is his rival. There is no way he can be into Keith. He has never thought about a guy like this. He's only ever crushed on girls. How can he suddenly like guys?

There's only one person who can answer his questions, and he will definitely be speaking to him soon.


	2. Finally Talking to Space Dad

It has been five days since the very revealing dinner, and Lance still hasn't talked to Shiro. They've just been flying around in space, not taking any breaks. Everyone has been growing restless. Although, Hunk's treats have been cheering everyone up a bit. Even Keith cracked a smile whenever he saw Cosmo deliver the food. Finally, Lance sees a planet up ahead. It has a reddish hue with some bluish areas in several places.

"Hey, guys! There's a planet up ahead. Maybe we should stop by and rest," Lance says, hoping they'll agree.

"Sounds like a plan," Keith says, already leading the others towards the planet. Lance smiles and follows.

They land in a few minutes, and Lance realizes that this is the perfect opportunity for him to talk to Shiro in private. He couldn't talk to him through the lions without someone overhearing, but this was his chance.

They all step down and begin to start a fire. This planet seems to be uninhabited, so they'll just have to make do with what they can. Keith and Krolia leave to scout out the area with Cosmo, searching for any threats. Like mother, like son. Hunk instead looks for anything edible that he can somehow cook. Pidge opts to play her video game now that she doesn't have anyone else crowding inside her lion. Romelle, Allura, and Coran try to coax Kaltenecker and the mice out of the blue lion. Lance is finally alone with Shiro, so he asks if they can talk. Shiro nods and they walk to sit down on a big rock nearby.

"Everything okay, Lance?" he asks, sitting down first. Lance follows suit, his nerves getting worse than before.

Lance looks down at the ground, unsure he can look Shiro in the eyes when he says what he wants to say. "Well, in general, a lot of things aren't okay. We've almost died like a thousand times, and you were stuck in the astral plane, and I couldn't help you, which I blame myself for. You tried to reach out to me, but I didn't realize it. Now, I'm rambling, and this wasn't even what I was originally going to talk about. Man, I'm a mess."

Lance can't believe he said all that. That wasn't even what he wanted to say! How the fuck did he go from trying to come out to revealing all of his guilt? It's not like anything he said was untrue, but that wasn't what he wanted to tell him. Shiro hasn't said anything, worrying Lance.

Finally, Shiro clears his throat. "Lance. Can you look at me?"

Lance looks up, feeling the tears building up. All of the bad emotions he has been pushing down were coming up, and he hates it. Shiro frowns and says, "Lance, I don't blame you at all."

Relief washes over him, and he finally lets the tears go. He cries quietly as Shiro rubs his back comfortingly. He is so grateful that the others aren't there. He does not want them seeing him so vulnerable. Lance grabs onto Shiro's arm, and Shiro pulls him in for a hug.

"It's not your fault," he whispers. His hug is so warm and comforting. It reminds Lance of the hugs his parents would give him, causing him to cling tighter to Shiro. Eventually, his tears cease, causing him to sniffle.

He pulls away from Shiro, wiping his eyes. "Sorry," he mutters.

Shiro shakes his head. "Lance, don't worry about it. You can always come to me, whether it's to talk about something happy or sad."

Lance nods, looking back down at the ground again. He got those feelings off his chest, but now he needs to get his other feelings off his chest. Shiro puts his arm on Lance's shoulder, and says "Now, what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

Lance shifted and glanced up at Shiro. "I wanted to talk to you about, well, i-it's about something you said the other night."

Shiro furrows his brow, obviously wondering what Lance was referring to. Then, his eyes widen, and he starts to look a little nervous. He wipes the nervous look off his face, and says, "You wanted to talk to me about Adam."

Lance nods, rushing to say, "Nothing bad! It's just that, well, I wanted to know …when did you…"

"When did I know I liked guys?" Shiro asks.

"Yeah. Recently, I've been feeling things about someone that I had never thought I would feel about them. It's not even just his gender. It's also the fact that I never thought we'd be compatible. I mean, this guy has always annoyed me with his emo boy attitude and that stupid mullet and stupid smirk of his when he wins in battle. But now—"

"Now, you're starting to like Keith?"

Lance's eyes widen, and he whips his head towards Shiro. "What? How'd you know?"

"Emo boy attitude? Stupid mullet? There's not a lot of guys you can fall for out here in space, Lance" Shiro says.

Lance blushes. "Okay, yeah. I …I like Keith. I've never liked a guy before, and just a couple months ago, I was totally crazy about Allura. I'm so confused."

Shiro sighs. "I know how you feel. When I was younger, I didn't know how to feel. I would develop crushes on male space pilots when all the other guys at the Garrison would crush on the female space pilots. I thought I was weird for feeling like that, but I wasn't. It was how I felt, and this is how you felt. Just because you like guys too does not make you any different. It just means that your capacity for love is for two genders instead of one. We attracted to the people we're attracted to, and others just need to accept it. But the most important person who needs to accept it is yourself."

"Thanks, Shiro. I, well, I don't know. I don't think I can ever tell Keith how I feel. He obviously doesn't like me like that. No one ever has. Not even Allura. She always pushed me away whenever I'd flirt. I started thinking that she might like me back, but then I saw he falling for Lotor. He was the son of the alien who destroyed her planet, and she still chose him over me. I-I just don't want to deal with heartbreak anymore," Lance says, tearing up. He hates how he's been crying so much. He tries so hard to hide his insecurities, and this was a lot more info than he had planned on giving Shiro.

He quickly wipes away his tears as Shiro says, "Lance, I'm sorry that Allura couldn't see the wonderful person you are. I know how much heartbreak sucks, which is why I won't tell you to go and confess to Keith right this minute. But, I think that with time, you will be able to tell him how you feel."

"How did you do it? How did you confess to the first guy you liked?" Lance asks curiously.

Shiro does something Lance never thought he'd see. He blushes. "Well, if I'm being honest, I've never been that smooth with guys. The first guy I ever liked was straight too, which made it worse. He was so confused about why I was stuttering so much when trying to ask him about. I had to try several times before he realized that I was asking him out, which led to him telling me that he was straight. Then came the awkward silence, which led to me saying that I had to go and running away as fast as I could."

"Wow, that sounds rough. How old were you? Twelve?"

"Fifteen."

"Oh."

Shiro's blush gets darker. "Yeah, I had a crush on him for two years when I finally confessed. You'd think I would've asked around to see if he even liked guys. After waiting for so long, I decided to just go for it."

Lance frowns. "Is Keith into guys?"

"He's never talked to me about it. Then again, he's not one who likes to talk about his feelings. Although, he did complain a lot about this guy named Taylor back at the Garrison. The guy annoyed him so much with his competitiveness that he refused to acknowledge him. Maybe he just didn't want to talk to him since he also liked him?"

"There wasn't a guy named Taylor in our class," Lance says, wondering who the hell Keith must have been talking about.

"Well, that's what he used to tell me. The point is, he never liked talking about his crushes. He preferred racing over sharing feelings. But I still think that maybe you two could work out."

Lance thinks about what Shiro said, and asks, "Whatever happened with you and that guy? Did you ever become friends again?"

"After some time, we did. "Besides, he introduced me to Adam. The person who rejected me lead me to the love of my life."

Lance looks at where the blue lion was, seeing Allura talking to the mice. She didn't flat out reject him, but she might as well have. It hurt as much as a rejection did. But if she hadn't, would he be feeling the way he does about Keith?

"I'll tell him one day, but definitely not now," Lance says, smiling a bit when he sees Keith coming back with Krolia and Cosmo.

Shiro smiles at him. "I'm honored that you came to talk to me, Lance. I really think that we're all a family. I guess you could say I'm the space …uncle."

Lance laughs. "Oh, please. Shiro, everyone knows you're the Space Dad. Just accept it."

Shiro rolls his eyes, "Whatever. You ready to head back to the others?"

Lance nods, and the two walk over where everyone else has gathered. The fire blazes, casting off light that illuminates Keith's face. Lance blushes for noticing this.

"Okay, everyone, enjoy," Hunk says, setting out the food for everyone.

Everyone digs in, laughing and talking. They don't always get to just spend time together like this, so Lance really treasures the moments they do. For once, nothing was coming to kill them, and Lance is free to sneak glances at Keith all he wants. What he doesn't know is that Keith sneaks glances at him when he's not looking too.


	3. Post-Battle Confessions

Lance feels like he can finally say that the universe is done trying to kill them. He is currently in a hospital bed at the Garrison, recovering from the last battle they had with Sendak and then that crazy powerful alien robot. He doesn't know where the hell that thing came from, but he's glad that it's gone. Since he is on bed rest, he hasn't been able to see the other paladins. According to his family and the doctors, they are all alive. He has asked them many times since he has woken up, and every time they reassure them that it's true. Everyone is alive and recovering. For that, he's grateful. He doesn't know how he'd feel if he was the only one to survive. Actually, he does know what he'd feel. He'd feel guilty because they would be dead and he'd be alive. He would've wanted it to be the other way around.

That thought scares him because people his age don't have to think about these kinds of situations. Then again, people his age don't go off into space and fight evil aliens in giant lions.

Someone knocks on the door, and Lance says, "Come in!" He assumes it's probably one of his nephews wanting to try on his helmet again. They never get tired of doing that. But when the door opens, he doesn't see a small boy with an excited smile. He sees Keith in a hospital gown with a relieved smile on his face.

Lance can't help but smile back because he thinks just a little part of him needed to see living proof that what everyone has been saying is true. All of them made it out alive.

"Hey," Keith croaks, his voice a bit hoarse. Lance guesses that he hasn't had the time to use it much. In fact, it almost looks like Keith just woke up.

"Hey. How long have you been awake?" Lance says, looking at him intently.

Keith looks away and says, "About an hour and a half."

Lance is a bit surprised. He's been awake for two days. If anything, he thought Keith would be the first to wake up. "What? Why are you out of bed?"

"My mom and Kolivan finally left my room. They kept telling me that everyone had made it, but I needed to see it for myself. I couldn't believe it otherwise," he explains.

"So, you got up out of your hospital bed and hauled your ass to each room that we're in just to see if we were alive?"

Keith nods and Lance smiles, "I'm glad I wasn't the only one who wanted to do that."

They laugh, and Keith fully enters the room. He sits at the end of Lance's bed. Lance isn't sure if he wants to close the distance or scoot further away. Accepting the way he feels about Keith has only made him more self-conscious and nervous. He's so lost in his own thoughts that Keith has to clear his throat to snap him back to reality.

"For a second there, I thought we'd lost you," Keith says, looking down at his hands. Lance remembers thinking that too. Red wasn't coming to him, and they had crashed. As the Galra came nearer, all Lance could think of was protecting Veronica. He couldn't let her die, even if he had to be the one to die. At that moment, he had accepted his fate. But now, looking back on it, he couldn't believe that was him. And yet, how could it not be him. If he reviewed everything that has happened since he became a paladin, how many times was he willing to put his life on the line for the mission? Not even just the mission, but for his friends, who had become like family to him? Now that everything is over, he feels…free.

"Me too," he whispers, staring at Keith's scar. A scar that, like Shiro's, was given to a person who had suffered enough in life. Keith turns his head, and they make eye contact.

Staring into Keith's blue-grey eyes, he realizes that now would be the perfect time to tell him how he feels. They just survived a battle where they almost died. If he's wrong, and the universe does still want to kill them, then he needs to get this off his chest right here, right now.

He opens his mouth to speak, but Keith speaks first. "I'm not good at the whole feelings thing. Two years stuck in the abyss, and I still haven't learned. But something I learned a long time ago is that life is short, and you have to do what you want. I guess that's why I was kind of impulsive."

Lance snorts. "Kind of?"

Keith glares at him. "I'm trying to talk about my feelings here. Anyway, I also learned that actions speak louder than words. For some reason, around you, I'm never really sure if that's true."

"What do you mean?" Lance asks.

"Like … the way I act around you. Sometimes, I think I'm obvious. Everyone else seems to think so. But then, saying certain things didn't seem to clue you in either."

"Let me guess. It's because I'm the dumb one?"

"Don't you ever say that about yourself! I was so happy that Pidge attacked him or else I would've done it first," he growls.

This makes Lance's stomach flip. He's always felt insecure, but ever since the game show, he's wondered if everyone saw him like that. Then, Keith was the only one to choose him to leave, and his answer as to why didn't really make him feel any better. But if Keith doesn't actually feel that way, then why did he say he didn't want to be stuck with him for eternity? Lance doesn't think he'll ever understand the hot-headed paladin.

"Shit, I'm getting off topic. What I'm trying to say is that I, well, I um…" he trails off, looking away from Lance's eyes.

Lance grows concerned, wondering what could be making him so nervous. He rarely sees him nervous. Angry sure, but never really nervous. Lance, with a burst of confidence, grabs Keith's hand. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me."

Keith's cheeks turn pink. Lance smiles at how cute he looks, and he blushes as well. This only causes Keith to get even redder than Lance. Keith lets out a breath and stands up. "You know what, fuck it. I like you, okay? I've liked you for fucking forever, and I thought you noticed, but you didn't. So, Shiro told me to come and talk to you, which is what I did. So, see you around."

The first thought that goes through Lance's head is, What the fuck just happened?

But then Keith is starting to leave, so Lance yells out, "I like you too!"

This isn't really how Lance wanted to reveal his feelings for Keith. But when has anything ever gone how Lance expected them to? It doesn't matter because Keith comes back, and the corners of his lips are twitching like he's holding back a smile.

"Seriously?" he asks, sitting back on the bed, closer than before.

Lance nods quickly. "I've liked you for a while now, but I've never had the guts to say anything."

"Really? What happened to Loverboy Lance, the king of flirting? I thought if you liked me, you would've given me some kind of obvious sign."

Lance looks right into Keith's eyes, and he says, "It's different with you. We started off as rivals. I wasn't planning on liking you. It just happened."

At first, Keith doesn't say anything. Lance is worried that maybe he said the wrong thing. How could he manage to ruin this before it even officially started? Did he somehow make Keith rethink his feelings and now he realizes that maybe he doesn't like him? All these thoughts were going through Lance's head, making him completely unaware of the fact that Keith was moving closer to him. He finally noticed that Keith was close, closer than he's ever been to him if you exclude the whole pool situation. He's moving slowly, and Lance doesn't do anything to stop him. Is this it? Is this going to be their first kiss?

But then Keith shifts his head, giving him a soft kiss on his cheek. Keith pulled back, and both were super red. Lance was suddenly glad that Keith didn't kiss him on the lips. He thinks he would've combusted if he had actually done it.

"I guess I'm still kind of impulsive," Keith whispers.

"That's not really a bad thing," Lance says, grabbing both of Keith's hands.

The two smile at each other when Lance remembers exactly what Keith said. "Wait, there is no way you were obvious about how you felt."

Keith narrows his eyes. "Um, yeah, I was. Our bonding moment?"

Lance shook his head. "Never happened."

Keith let go of his hands and yelled, "Yes, it did!"

Lance giggles and Keith's expression softens. But, he quickly masks it and says, "Okay, what about when you came to me after we found clone Shiro? You wanted to step down, and I told you very nicely how that was a stupid idea. I didn't even use the word stupid."

Lance remembers that moment. He had felt like it was his responsibility to step down and that he wasn't good enough to be a paladin. Keith had told him not to worry about it and to leave the math to Pidge.

"I remember that. I still don't see how that showed your feelings."

"What? But I was all soft and supportive!"

"Yeah, you were being a good friend. I thought that was all you saw me as," Lance says, shrugging.

Keith groans. "But everyone else was able to tell."

Lance hummed. "Well, they were reading between the lines, I guess. I was too busy fawning over Allura at the time."

Keith stiffens. "Do you still have some feelings for her?"

Lance thought of everything they've been through, and he knew he could honestly say, "No, I don't. I thought that maybe a part of me still did, but I don't. Not anymore."

Keith smiles. "Well, maybe after we get cleared we can—"

"No."

"What?" Keith asks.

"You beat me to confessing first. I want to be the one to ask you out."

Keith snorted. "Go ahead."

Lance clears his throat and squeezes Keith's hand. "Keith, will you go out on a date with me?"

"I think I'd like that," Keith says.

Lance feels as if maybe this is his moment. Maybe he was just feeling confident after Keith's response, but he thinks he has better control of his emotions right now that a kiss wouldn't make him explode. He starts to lean in, and Keith doesn't move away, making him feel surer of what he was about to do. That is until he hears someone say, "Shit."

He stops and pulls back. Keith groans and yells out, "Who's there?"

The door creaks open to reveal Hunk, Pidge, Shiro, and Adam standing outside their room. Pidge looks smug, clutching a few bills in her hand. Hunk is crossing his arms, trying to look upset, but he can't hide the happiness he felt at seeing his two friends together. The two are in their own hospital gowns, but they had woken up a few days ago, and they had even visited Lance already. Shiro looks disappointed in those two, like the space dad he is. But then he looks at Keith and Lance, and he smiles. Adam just looks confused about everything, which Lance felt like was a whole mood.

"What are you guys doing outside my room?" Lance asks.

Now, Pidge looks sheepish. "We went to visit Keith after hearing he woke up, but his room was empty. I bet Hunk ten bucks that he was here and confessing. He said that he thought Lance would be the first to confess. So, we came here, and we may have heard everything."

"Shiro, you too?" Keith asks.

"I didn't think you'd be confessing already. You both said you needed time. Now, I lost ten bucks."

"You talked to both of us?" Keith looks back at Lance, and he nods.

"He talked to me back when we were still in space," Lance says.

"Wait, Takashi, they came to you for love advice? Do they not know how you confessed to me?" Adam says, trying not to laugh.

Shiro turns red, the second time Lance as ever seen him do so. "They don't need to know."

"What'd he do?" Lance asks.

"He told me he liked me, threw flowers at my face, and tried to run away, but he slipped on a petal that had fallen. I pulled him back up and kept him there long enough for me to tell him that I liked him too," Adam says, smiling fondly at Shiro.

Everyone else laughs, not expecting to hear this about their former leader. Adam kisses Shiro's cheek, causing him to turn redder. It also causes everyone to giggle at Shiro's reaction.

They see Allura, Coran, and Romelle walking down the hall. Hunk yells out for them to come in and join them. The three greet Keith, asking him how he's feeling.

"Actually, better than I've felt in a long time," Keith answers, looking at Lance.

They notice the two boys holding hands, but they don't say anything.

"Now, what was so funny when we came in?" Allura asks, referring to how they were still recovering from Adam's story of Shiro confessing his feelings.

"Oh, we were laughing about how bad Shiro is at romance," Pidge answers.

"Really?" Coran asks, surprised.

"Oh, can you tell it again?" Romelle says.

"Maybe we should leave these two alone. They probably have a lot to talk about," Shiro says, trying to stop his boyfriend from telling any more embarrassing stories.

Lance thought he would've wanted alone time with Keith, but they have plenty of time for that. Looking around the room, seeing all these people who care about him, and another person he knows he'll grow to care for, he can't help but think that the universe can't be trying to kill them anymore. Maybe this was a new beginning where the universe is trying to make up for everything it has done to them. If that was the case, then he wanted to use this opportunity to get to know his family better.

"Actually, Adam, can you tell us again? But this time, with some more details on how everything went down," Lance says, lying back down his bed. He pulls Keith back down with him. They lay side by side, their hands laced together. No one comments, leaving Adam to retell the story. Shiro groans at every embarrassing detail while everyone else laughs and looks at him sympathetically.

"This isn't really what I had in mind when I imagined confessing to you," Keith whispers in his ear, leaving shivers down his spine.

"Me neither."

"But I kind of like that it happened this way."

"Me too," Lance whispers. He is being completely honest, knowing he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.


End file.
